Turret-locking mechanism



T. M. KANE.

TURRET LOCKING MECHANISM.

APPLICAUON FILED JULY9. 1919.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. KANE, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

TURRET-LOCKING MECHAN ISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application led July 9, 1919. Serial No. 309,568.

To all trimm t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS M. KANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, ha-ve invented certain new and useful Improvements in Turret-Locking Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an attachment, applicable to can-seaming machines, for preventing movement of the turret wheel or can carrier, while the seaming rollers are rolling the tops on to the cans. In such machines, in order that the seaming rollers may work accurately, it is necessary that the can be properly positioned with respect to the rollers by the turret wheel, and that the latter be held against movement while the tops are being seamed on to the cans. The attachment of the present invention is intended to accomplish this purpose more effectively than the index wheels and locking pins usually provided for the same end.

ln the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention,

Figure 1 is an elevation in outline of a well known form of seaming machine for applying tops to cans, portions of the machine with my improvements thereon, being shown in full lines,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2*-2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating the adjustability of the bearings for the locking levers.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates, in dotted outline, a machine for seaming tops on to cans, the seaming rollers being indicated at l and the turret wheel for carrying the cans into position to be operated upon by the rollers being indicated at 2. The turret wheel is carried upon a shaft 3, which is partially rotated after each seaming operation, to bring another can into position to have its top seamed on. The movement of the shaft is accomplished by means of an intermittently engaging clutch c, comprising an upper member 4, slidable upon the shaft, and a lower member 5, rotatable on the shaft. The upper memberhas openings to receive pins 6, depending from a disk 7 which is secured to the shaft, the arrangement being such that the member 4 may slide up and down on the shaft and on the pins 6, but when said member is rotated it will, through the medium of the pins, cause the shaft to rotate. The lower clutch member is secured to a sleeve 8 having an arm 9 to which is connected a link 10, which latter is given a timed-back-and-forth movement, during the normal operation of the machine, by mechanism not shown. The clutch members have long complementary teeth 4a and 5, and it will be evident that when the rod 9 is moved to the left, the lower clutch member will turn the upper member and the shaft 8, and when the rod is returned to the right, the lower member will be turned back while the upper member will simply be raised on the shaft by the inclined surfaces of the cam teeth until the lower teeth pass the upper teeth, when the upper member will drop into locking engagement with the lower member, so that the upper member and the shaft may be given another movement when the link is next moved to the left. Where the turret has four can pockets, the clutch members will each have four cam teeth, the faces of the teeth being 900 in length, and the shaft will be intermittently turned ay quarter of a revolution during each back and forth movement of the link. Over-rotation on the Shaft is prevented by a suitable band brake 11, which bears upon the shaft. Usually, in the type of machine here illustrated, index slots are provided in the disk 7 and a key or spline is provided on a vertically movable shaft 12, for engaging these slots to position and hold the turret wheel while the. can top is being seamed on to the can; but this arrangement is not entirely'satisfactory, because the key, when made to lit the slots closely, so as to prevent movement of the turret wheel does not always enter the slot, and if made small enough to enter the slot freely, it permits movement of the turret wheel while the top is being applied.

My invention is designed to obviate this latter difliculty, and it comprises a disk 13 which may be secured to the lower end of the shaft 3, without making any change in the machine, and this disk is provided with equi-distant notches 14, in its periphery. As shown, there are four notches 90O apart, each notch having a radial face 14a and a face 14b inclined inwardlyV in the direction of rotation of the shaft, which direction is indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. Upon a shelf 15, projecting from the body of the machine, are arranged two bearing blocks 16, having flanged bases 16a which rest upon the shelf and are secured by bolts 17,

which pass through enlarged openings 16b in the flanges, the enlarged openings permitting of a limited adjustment of the bearings with respect to the shelf Vand the disk 13. Two centrally pivoted levers 18 are connected to the bearings by pivot bolts 19. The forward ends of these levers are provided with transverse grooves in which are mounted dogs 20, having beveled ends, as shown, for engaging the notches in the disk 13. These dogs are adjustably secured to the levers by set screws 21. The rear ends of the levers are normally pressed apart by a spring 23 passing loosely through the levers and provided with a head 24 at one end and nuts 25 at the other end for limit in the movement of the levers.

It will be evident that when the shaft is given a one-quarter turn in the direction of the arrow, by the operation of the link 10 and clutch c, the dogs will be forced out of one pair of diametrically opposite notches and will ride on the periphery of the disk and then drop into the next pair of notches. The dogs engage the notches at the moment when a can is brought into position to be operated upon by the seaming rollers. The seaming operation tends to cause a backward rotation of the turret wheel and this is positively prevented by the engagement of the dogs with the radial faces 14 of the notches in the disk 13. Any tendency t0- ward movement of the turret wheel and disk in the opposite direction is sufficiently resisted and prevented by the engagement of the inclined faces of the dogs and notches. As the dogs engage the disk at diametrically opposite points, vibration from other causes, such as wear in the bearings, is minimized.

As the dogs wear, they may be adjusted, or removed and pointed, by loosening the set screws 21, and in applying the attachment to the machine, the adjustability of the dogs and the adjustability of the levers obviate the necessity for accurate machining, which would otherwise be required. Also, wear on the dogs may be compensated for by unscrewing the adjusting nuts 25 on the rod 23, which will allow the levers to approach more closely to the disk; or by tightening the nuts 25, the dogs may be entirely withdrawn from the disk, or the spring tension on the dogs may be varied.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a shaft and means for intermittently rotating said shaft, of a disk secured to said shaft and having diametrically opposite notches, each notch having a radial and an inclined face, a pair of centrally-pivotedy levers having dogs adapted to engage opposite notches in the disk, and means for yieldingly pressing said dogs against the disk.

2. The combination with a shaft and means for intermittently rotating said shaft, of a disk secured to said shaft and having diametrically opposite notches, each notch having a radial and an inclined face, a pair of centrally-pivoted levers and means for adjusting the same with respect to the disk, dogs adjustably mounted on said levers and adapted to engage the disk, and means for ieldingly pressing said dogs toward the 3. The combination with a shaft and means for intermittently rotating said shaft, of a disk secured to said shaft and having diametrically opposite notches, each notch having a radial and an inclined face, a pair of centrally-pivoted levers having dogs adapted to engage opposite notches in the disk, a spring tending to force the free ends of said levers apart, and a rod extending through said free ends and having means thereon for limiting the outward movement of said free ends.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

THOMAS M. KANE. 

